Every Gordon Ramsay-Led Cooking Show, Ranked
Professional footballer turned chef Gordon Ramsay is arguably the world’s most famous TV chef, having produced and starred in various hot TV shows based around his honest and loud persona. The professional chef recently landed quite the honor with Gordon Ramsay’s most-watched TV show becoming Next Level Chef, whose second season debut became the most-watched cooking series in television history, with 15.5 million viewers.
Combine this with long-running staples like Kitchen Nightmares, which lasted for seven seasons, and the competition reality show Hell’s Kitchen, which is set for its 23rd season in the fall of 2023, and the TV chef has become a pop-culture staple both in the USA and his home country of the UK.
Conversely, Ramsay’s career has been highlighted by programs taking a more in-depth look at food and culture, like Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted and Gordon,Gino, and Fred’s Road Trip showcasing the chef’s knowledge and skill outside the more sensational competition/reality TV format.
At the forefront of many memorable TV programs throughout the years, we list all the shows led by Gordon Ramsay and rank them up to the best. Programs with a USA and UK version will be put into a single entry.
The first show in this list certainly delivers on its premise, a cookery course with Gordon Ramsay for those wanting to make 4-star restaurant quality food on a budget. Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course highlights Ramsay’s skill, passion, and ability to be relatable and present cooking excitingly and engagingly.
That said, in the end, it is a cooking tutorial and lacks the drama or competition that makes up the best cooking shows led by Gordon Ramsay.
Ramsay’s Costa Del Nightmares
Ramsay’s Costa Del Nightmares is essentially a one-shot four-episode series based on the popular Kitchen Nightmares format. Despite this, the series feels like a slight afterthought and a way to get Ramsay to pristine European vacation spots instead of building on the “nightmares” format.
Perfectly watchable, yet the four episodes could have easily just been integrated into the Kitchen Nightmares series, and no one would have batted an eye. It did not need to be its own thing.
Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted Showdown
Gordan Ramsay Uncharted Showdown took viewers around the world with Gordon Ramsay as he got to sample different cuisines and experience different cultures. The “Showdown” version of the same show felt more like an afterthought to bring in some competition to the already beloved and well-received documentary series.
Across four episodes, Ramsay takes to different spots to explore their cuisine but also has a face-off with star chefs Paul Ainsworth and Matt Waldron — the final episode sees him competing with his daughter Matilda Ramsay. The concept is not horrible and holds some of the charms of Gordan Ramsay Uncharted, but it is not as good as its already proven and enjoyed predecessor.
Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars
This series saw two seasons, one in the USA and one in the UK. The UK production is, arguably, more enjoyable, given the cast and slight format differences. Still, both offer an entertaining competition between established entrepreneurs looking for that push to take them to the next level.
Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars slightly falters in dealing with people who are already professionals who have completed the task of building up a small business to warrant Ramsay’s attention for investment. It lacks the underdog stories, the possibility of an unhinged contestant, and the frenetic energy felt in other cooking competition shows led by Ramsay, landing it lower on our list.
Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back
Gordon Ramsay 24 Hours to hell and backFox
Kitchen Nightmares but quicker and with cheesy zoom-in effects and a big traveling bus, Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back suffers from trying to take the winning format of other Ramsay restaurant improved programs by adding unnecessary elements. The show still has those shocking moments like angry, out-of-control staff/owners butting heads with Ramsay or a walk through a kitchen full of rotting food and vermin.
However, where the show lost out to Kitchen Nightmares is how rushed the format seems by constricting itself to 24 hours to turn around a restaurant. Moreover, Ramsay is charming on his own, and all the pseudo-tech acts as a goofy distraction. The show is entertaining, but it does make one wish they were watching Kitchen Nightmares instead.
Hotel Hell
Gordon Ramsay Hotel HellFox
Another spin-off of the kitchen nightmare format, Hotel Hell is likely the most successful re-envisioning of having Ramsay help struggling businesses by extending his service past just the kitchen. It does not hurt that the program ran multiple seasons and gave viewers many classic episodes like “Hotel Chester” and “Applegate River Lodge.”
